Having emphatically shed her bridesmaid's tag by taking gold in the Commonwealth Games 5,000m, the sky is now the limit for the newly-crowned marathon world record holder and European 10,000m champion.

Radcliffe showed relentless determination and stamina to claim her time of 2:17:18 in Chicago, just two months after obliterating her rivals and Ingrid Kristiansen's old European record in Munich.

Defeats such as Edmonton are now a distant memory

The valiant near-misses that for many years appeared to define Radcliffe's running have now inspired a stirring transformation in a truly world-class athlete.

The omens were always there before the 28-year-old won a gold medal at a major championships at the 10th attempt in Manchester.